


Asking the Real Questions

by elemie89



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Alternate Universe - Politics, Banter, Ben Solo Needs A Hug, Blow Jobs, Eventual Romance, Eventual Smut, F/M, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, M/M, Past Child Abuse, Political Campaigns, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-04-18
Updated: 2020-07-30
Packaged: 2021-03-02 04:14:22
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 11,625
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23708959
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elemie89/pseuds/elemie89
Summary: Fourth grade teacher, Rey Johnson attends the Town Hall Meeting of the Democratic candidate for Governor, Ben Solo. Fed up with the education system at large, she asks an impassioned question and gets more than she bargained for.
Relationships: Armitage Hux/Rose Tico, Poe Dameron/Finn, Rey/Ben Solo, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 129
Kudos: 334





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> Hello and welcome to my newest fic (I can hear all my WIPs weeping). This started life when there was a game on Twitter where people picked two pics of Rey and Ben and imagined an AU based on them. So I hope you enjoy! 
> 
> Many thanks to [commandercrouton](https://archiveofourown.org/users/commandercrouton) for the beta! Chapter count is my best guesstimate at this point <3

It was a typical October evening in New York City. The doors of the gymnasium of P.S. 145 in the Bronx were propped open to let the crisp night air in. The breeze felt divine, refreshing the occupants who were packed in like sardines for a Town Hall Meeting with the Democratic candidate for governor. Many staff members from that very school had come to hear the candidate answer questions. The atmosphere was alive with excitement. 

The weather had been perfect that day, but in that moment, Rey Johnson would have to disagree with that fact. A prickling heat at the back of her neck and flushed cheeks had been plaguing her since she’d entered the room and grabbed a spot in the line to ask questions. 

“And that’s why I would support legislation that would increase Medicare expansion so that every citizen of New York would be able to have access to health care.” 

She smoothed out a non-existent wrinkle on her shirt as she looked forward and pretended to listen to the response that gubernatorial candidate, Ben Solo, was giving. She swallowed the bile threatening to rise in her throat. There was still time to hop out of the line. She could go back to her seat, stay silent, and everyone in the auditorium would be none the wiser. 

A nagging thought that she was wasting her time kept plaguing her. State Senator Ben Solo probably didn’t care about the plight of her students. That was the problem with politicians and why she had no use for them. They were just full of noise and empty promises and Ben Solo was (probably) no different. 

Sure, he was young and charismatic in front of the cameras, and full of good policy ideas. Rey knew better, though. It was just the same old bullshit wrapped up in attractive clever packaging. Nothing more. Unlike some of her contemporaries, Rey had lost her idealism in political machinations long ago. 

She released a resigned sigh and cast a glance back at her seat. What was she even doing here? She angled her foot to step out of line and her eyes fell to her wrist. A simple, multi colored paper chain bracelet adorned her wrist—a gift from one of her students. It was a simple trinket, but it stopped her dead in her tracks. She knew why she was here. 

By no means had her trepidation subsided, but her resolve grew as she took a step and stood in front of the microphone, fiddling with the bracelet, which had strangely become her talisman and source of strength in the last minute.

Ben Solo was intently looking at the person asking the question at the other microphone. Rey knew Ben Solo mainly by reputation. He’d become something of a viral figure when he first ran for the New York State Senate. He was an attractive, young, seemingly idealistic and belonged to a political dynasty. It was hard for the media not to draw comparisons to another young, idealistic senator who became president. 

Objectively, yes, Rey did find him attractive. Over a few glasses of wine, she was prone to chuckling at the occasional compilation of thirst tweets Buzzfeed would put together about him. But Rey had never been one for politics or politicians—until this afternoon. She closed her eyes, steeling herself against the invasive memory. Now was not the time to think. She needed to put why she was here out of her mind if she was going to keep a steady voice and hand while asking her question. 

The moderator ran over toward her microphone and indicated it was time to ask her question. She sucked in a breath. This was it.

“Good evening,” she greeted. “I’m Rey Johnson and I’m a fourth grade teacher here at P.S. 145.” Ben Solo nodded in greeting, his trademark intensity now fully focused on her. “Mr. Solo, Governor Snoke slashed the budget for education, but in my opinion the most devastating cut was to Healthy Minds, a program that provides free school lunches to underprivileged children. I’m tired of having to triage which one of my students deserves lunch more. If elected governor, what are you planning to do about this?” 

Applause and cheers erupted all around her. A look of surprise and elation spread across her face as she looked from side to side at the crowd. She’d clearly hit a nerve. Not surprising given that she was surrounded by her co-workers who were clearly experiencing the same dilemma that she was.

“What was your name again?” 

“Rey,” she repeated, her tone inadvertently becoming more annoyed. He was clearly stalling. 

“Rey,” he repeated. It was almost like a whisper. “Well, thank you for providing a vital service in our communities, Rey. It’s really shameful to hear that Governor Snoke has advanced his own interest at the expense of our most vulnerable. I know this personally because I have gone toe to toe with him as a member of the State Budget Committee. I personally know where we can afford to slash spending where it won’t hurt the citizens of New York. If elected governor, I will make sure we put that money back into education and Healthy Minds, where it belongs.” 

Emboldened by the adulation from moments earlier, Rey spoke up again. “But where  _ specifically _ will the money come from? You said you know personally where we can reallocate funds.” 

His head snapped toward her—clearly anticipating just moving on. She could feel her muscles tensing up—an intrinsic reaction to anyone becoming mad at her. Preparing for a cold, curt response, she looked up at his face, but not finding any fury. Instead, his eyes were slightly widened in...wonder? His lips slightly parted in an “O”. That was... _ new _ .

Their eyes were locked in a silent deténte, seemingly forever until a commotion from behind Senator Solo grabbed Rey’s attention. A well-coiffed and manicured, slender woman scurried to his side to seemingly rescue him. She was about to grab his microphone, when Ben threw up his hand. 

Rey’s eyes narrowed. What was happening? Senator Solo whispered something to his aide and turned back toward Rey. He considered his words for a second as he ran his fingers through his hair. The action does something to her, but she quickly pushed all thoughts of how she’d like to feel how his hair would feel carded between her fingers out of her mind. 

“I know of a few taxpayer funded initiatives that aren’t returning the investment. My administration will make this top priority,” he said, his dark eyes boring into her—willing her to believe him. His expression changes to one of sincerity, which is odd, given Rey has never known a politician to be sincere in her life. His next words shocked her. “Does that answer your question?” 

Rey had no choice but to nod. She couldn’t tell if he was actually being sincere and meant to follow through on his word, but there’s no time for any further follow up. The moderator had already walked to the other side of the gym and had begun prompting the other participant to ask their question. 

With that Rey turned away and went back to her seat. She didn’t see Senator Solo follow her with his eyes back to her seat and barely pay attention to the next question. 

***

The next morning, she walked into the teachers lounge with her travel mug filled with coffee, ready to tackle the day. She caught sight of her best friend and roommate, Rose, sitting at a table with the P.E. teacher, Finn Storm. 

Rey waved at them. If tunnel vision hadn’t blinded Rey to her surroundings, she would have noticed that all conversation had ceased upon her entrance, and most of the eyes in the room were now on her. 

“Morning guys,” Rey greeted, almost on autopilot as she set her bag down and took a seat. 

When she didn’t hear a response, she looked up at her friends. They were just staring, dumbfounded. 

“Good morning, Rey. How was your night?” she replied in an almost mocking tone. “Oh, I’m just a little tired since I didn’t get back from the Town Hall Meeting until nearly midnight, after trying to be an active participant in democracy.” 

“She doesn’t know…” Finn said, with a slight tone of disbelief. 

Rey’s brow furrowed. “Know what?” 

Rose didn’t say a word, she just shoved her phone in Rey’s face. Rey brought her head forward a few inches to see what she was meant to be looking at. 

It was  _ her _ . 

At the town hall meeting last night. 

A spectator in the crowd had filmed her interaction with Senator Solo and it had made its way to the Facebook page of Eyewitness News. Rey mused that it had not taken long for things to escalate like that, but she supposed that was the age of social media. 

One of Rey's hard and fast rules was never look at the comments on the internet, but her morbid curiosity made her break that rule. To her surprise, most of the comments were generally supportive of her—a shocking departure from the internet’s normal behavior—and directing their venom at a broken education system where teachers had to prioritize which students got to eat that day. 

She let out a huff of disbelief that her tiny little question could provoke such a response. Rose chucked at her surprise. “My bestie is famous!”

“Remember the little people when you’re in Washington!” Finn added. 

Rey rolled her eyes and looked at the time. “Almost time for us to mold young minds guys…” 

“And so humble too,” Rose laughed, gathering her bag and supplies from around her. 

Rey rolled her eyes again, adding a chuckle. “This will probably blow over by lunch time, guys.” 

She pushed the door of the teacher’s lounge open and headed toward her classroom, ready to tackle the work of the day and forget about what had happened last night. Rey should have known better than to utter those famous last words. When she checked her phone at lunchtime, her notifications were a mess. 

The video of her simple question had been shared nearly fifty thousand times. Several local new stations had taken notice of the video. It was all a bit overwhelming to say the least, but the message was going out. At least fifty thousand people knew what Rey and her colleagues were up against. 

In the teacher’s lounge, over their shared lunch period, Rose kept an eye on the statistics and teased Rey every so often about the words she’d spoken earlier in the day—words she was now being forced to eat. 

“Oh, now 1010 WINS just shared it to their Facebook page,” Rose said with raised eyebrows. 

Instead of speaking, Rey just held her far-off gaze out the window and raised her eyebrows in surprise. In the last twenty minutes, this had become her default response to anything Rose had said. It was easier to respond this way. Actually thinking about what was happening made Rey’s stomach turn. She needed to keep her lunch down and finish out the rest of the day. 

Fortunately, her students made that task easy. It was a Friday and the cafeteria had served their customary brownies along with the main entree. The promise of the weekend, plus the rush of sugar made teaching fractions damn near impossible. Students were refusing to stop side conversations or sit still. Rey couldn’t fault them, though. She was the exact same way in school. 

Blessedly, 2:45 finally arrived and Rey could dismiss her pupils for the weekend. Once the children had stampeded out of her class toward the waiting buses and Rey found herself alone again, she pulled her phone from her desk. Before she looked at her screen, she was filled with the hope that her whole fifteen seconds of viral stardom had died down since lunch. She’d gotten her message out, her work was done. 

When her screen came to life, all hopes were dashed. More shares, more comments of support, but now there was a new addition to the fray. An email from a talk radio station was waiting in her inbox, requesting an interview. This had all gotten out of hand. She was just advocating for her students. Becoming an involved citizen. She was just a teacher with no interest in being in the public eye. She didn’t want any of this.

Suddenly, the solution to her problem appeared. An email from Principal Holdo—who also happened to be the president of her union chapter—appeared just above the request for an interview. With a no-nonsense attitude and highly protective of her staff, she knew her boss would most likely tell Rey an interview was out of the question. She responded to the request by cc’ing Principal Holdo on the email, stating that she’d have to check with her boss/union president. 

_ This will shut things down.  _

Vowing to not check her work email until Monday morning, she grabbed her bag and papers she needed for the weekend, locked up her classroom, and headed to the subway—toward Queens and toward home. 

After a weekend of Netflix binge watching, sleeping in, and eating  _ way _ too much junk food, Rey felt energized and ready to tackle the week. She drank her morning coffee in the lounge with Rose and Finn, headed to her classroom, then began her lessons for the day. Somewhere while discussing  _ Sarah, Plain and Tall,  _ the phone in her classroom rang. 

“Okay, class, I want you to read the next page quietly for a second,” she instructed, crossing over to her desk to grab the phone. 

“Hi, Rey, it’s Amilyn. Can you come to my office for a second?” Principal Holdo asked after Rey picked up the phone. 

After asking the teacher next door to keep an ear out for her students, she headed toward the principal's office. Amylin, as all her staff called her, had probably just read Rey’s email and was probably going to tell her under no circumstances was she to talk to the press—which was just fine by Rey. 

As her hand reached for the door knob, she steeled herself. Amilyn might have some harsh words about Rey’s viral moment. She did mention which school she worked for, effectively making herself a spokeswoman for the school. but she could handle that. 

She knocked on the door, so confident and sure she was prepared for what was inside. When she lifted her head as she pushed inside the room, the universe laughed at her confidence. 

“Oh, hi, Rey! Glad you could come so quickly!” Amilyn greeted her. 

Rey froze. They were not alone. 

Not only was Rey’s boss in the room, but a large man with an impeccably tailored suit was also in the room, with his back toward Rey. She suddenly became aware of another figure in the room—it was the woman who was with Senator Solo last night which meant—

“Rey, I believe you know State Senator, Ben Solo?” Amilyn asked, extending her arm toward the man. 

He turned around and Rey was—quite literally—face to face with the reason for her viral moment. Ben Solo was standing in her boss’ office. Ben Solo had found her. 

_ Fuck.  _


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this chapter finds you safe and healthy in this crazy time we find ourselves in.

Rey wasn’t sure of a lot of things in her life. Her tumultuous upbringing in the foster system had drilled into her that the only certain thing in life was uncertainty. But right now Rey was absolutely certain of one thing—she was getting fired and Ben Solo would be the reason. 

Why else would he be here? He was a powerful man with a notoriously difficult disposition, and they tended to throw their weight around, throw tantrums until they got their way. And his way more likely than not included Rey losing her job. That’s why she was in the office,  _ right _ ?

Rumor had it, a waiter at the Plaza lost their job because walnuts somehow made their way on his salad. The internet was also littered with stories of disgruntled interns who’d been the targets of Senator Solo’s wrath. 

“Take a seat, Rey,” Principal Holdo pointed toward a chair near her expansive desk. 

“Okay,” she said, hesitantly moving toward the chair and easing herself in. 

The woman accompanying Senator Solo followed Rey with her eyes as she sat down. Senator Solo fiddled with a book, keeping his broad back turned toward the women. Rey huffed silently. If he was going to get her fired, he should at least have the decency to turn around and face her like a man. 

Amilyn cleared her throat and Rey snapped her head back toward her boss. “So, Rey you caused quite a little stir last Thursday at Senator Solo’s town hall meeting, huh?” 

“Look, Amilyn, can we just cut the bullshit and skip to the part where you suspend me or fire me?” 

That got Senator Solo’s attention and Rey couldn’t help but look in his direction. Her eyes rolled internally.  _ Now _ she had his attention, just as her punishment was about to be doled out. Typical. 

“I think you misunderstand…” Amilyn began. 

Rey cut her boss off. “No, I get it. Senator Solo didn’t like how our interaction played out, so he came to make sure you either reprimand me or fire me. I know how this works.” 

“Rey…” Amilyn began again. 

“No, really. It’s okay, I don’t need a big speech about how I’m a valuable employee and all that...so just give it to me straight.” 

“You’re really not understanding why I’m here…” Senator Solo’s deep voice nearly jolted Rey out of her skin. 

“He speaks,” Rey deadpanned. 

For the first time, she was able to get a good glimpse at Senator Solo. His navy suit was impeccably tailored, accentuating his broad shoulders and the muscles in his arms. His crisp white button down —straining a bit against his muscular chest—was accentuated with a red tie. The whole ensemble was completed with the standard American flag pin that Rey assumed was handed out during orientation the first day you became a civil servant. 

Taking him in at such a short distance, Rey had to admit, the Buzzfeed thirst tweets had some merits. His angular jaw and Patrician nose weren’t classically handsome, but Rey couldn’t deny there was a magnetic appeal about him. She became acutely aware of the fact she was staring—if not gawking—at him. She couldn’t bring herself to look away, nor did she find she wanted to. 

It’s only when Amilyn cleared her throat, the strange trance he had her under broke. “Senator Solo is right. That’s not why we called you here at all.” 

_ Oh.  _ “Oh.” 

“We’re actually here to offer you a job,” the woman spoke up. She extended a perfectly manicured hand toward Rey and gave her a delightfully firm handshake. “Bazine Netal, I’m Ben’s campaign manager.” 

“Rey Johnson, and I have a job.” 

“It’s more of a consulting position,” Bazine said, by way of explanation. 

“But I don’t know the first thing about politics,” Rey said, stating the obvious. “Nor do I have any interest in getting involved.” 

Senator Solo interjected. “But you do know about education. You have your finger on the pulse of what would work and not work as far as education policies.” 

Rey still didn’t follow and confusion was evident on her face when Bazine added, “We would want you to be an educational advisor for the campaign.” 

Rey scoffed. “Excuse me?” Bazine and Senator Solo balked at her candor. “I’m sorry, it’s just, I’ve never done anything like this before. I’ve only been teaching for three years, I’m hardly qualified to do anything like this.” 

“We’d give you a team, anything you needed,” Senator Solo said. 

Bazine nodded. “The fact is, you really hit a nerve with the people on Thursday night. We need people like you in our campaign.” 

Rey furrowed her brow. “People like me?” 

A smile tugged at Senator Solo’s lips. “People who aren’t afraid to challenge the status quo.” 

“And you think I do that...challenge the status quo?” 

“You called me on my shit, Thursday,” Senator Solo shrugged. 

“Fair point,” Rey admitted. “Say, hypothetically, I wanted to take this consulting position. What would it entail?” 

“You would come to the office once a week and just take a look at the policies we’re kicking around,” Bazine explained, “make suggestions and maybe even introduce a few ideas of your own.” 

Rey bit her lip. Time wise, one day a week wasn’t a big commitment, but the weight that one day a week carried was giving Rey pause. It wasn’t a weight to be taken lightly. She looked between Senator Solo and Bazine. “Could...I have some time to think about all this?” 

Bazine opened her mouth to answer, but Senator Solo cut her off by nodding. “Take all the time you need. Just don’t take too long.” 

Bazine shot him a look and for a brief moment Rey wondered what that might be all about, but decided it could wait until later. It probably meant nothing. “I’ll have an answer by Friday.” 

This was apparently a satisfactory answer for Senator Solo. He nodded again and bid goodbye to Amilyn before heading out the door. When they were alone, Amilyn turned toward Rey. “Well that was unexpected.” 

“Tell me about it,” Rey said, huffing out a breath. She took a second to gather herself before moving to stand up. “Was that all you needed me for?”

“That was it,” she said, giving Rey a congenial smile. “Oh! Actually, I wanted to tell you that I’m okay with you doing that radio interview you cc’d me on.” 

Rey’s eyes darted around the room, looking for hidden cameras. This had to be a joke. First, Senator Solo offering her a job, then Amilyn approving radio interviews? If Rey didn’t know any better, she should check out the window for flying pigs. 

***

Later that night, Rey and Rose were tearing into a big order of hot wings—their customary Monday night meal. 

“So then I noticed that Temiri was about to install Starkiller on his computer,” Rose said in an exasperated tone. “That’s the second time this week, so I had to call his parents.” 

“That’s nice,” Rey said, absentmindedly, slathering way too much ranch dressing on her chicken wing. 

“And then I showed the kids how to download Limewire and I played Eminem for them,” Rose said, testing how intently Rey was listening.

“Huh?” Rey asked, turning her head quickly toward Rose. 

“That got your attention. Are you okay?” 

“I guess?” Rey shrugged. “In addition to Amilyn approving those interviews, Senator Solo stopped by the school and offered me a consulting position on his campaign.” 

Rose’s eyes widened. “Wait. What?” 

Rey smirked. “Yeah, I know.” 

“And you said yes, right?” 

“I told him I’d think about it and I would have an answer for him by Friday.” 

“Why would you say no?”

“For starters, I have no experience shaping policy…” Rose opened her mouth to protest , but Rey barreled on,“The Governance Council at work doesn’t count.” 

“I humbly submit it does,” Rose said, picking up a French fry. “Think of it this way, what prompted you to go to that town hall in the first place?” 

Rey hadn’t told anyone what prompted her impulsive decision to attend, not even her best friend. “I don’t know…”

Rose quirked an eyebrow. “Come on, there had to be some reason you—who doesn’t give a shit about politics—went to that town hall.” 

Rey paused and considered her response. She knew the reason, but didn’t want to get into all that right now. “I guess I just wanted to advocate for my students.”

“See! There you go,” Rose said gesturing. “Just think of this as being able to advocate for your students on a bigger level.” 

“I know, but, what if I screw up horribly? Make a wrong recommendation?” 

“You said they’re giving you a team if you want, right?” 

“Yeah…” 

“So, utilize your team. There’s strength in numbers. They won’t let you fail,” Rose said in a reassuring tone.

“If they let me pick a team, will you be on it?” Rey asked, reaching out for Rose’s hand. 

Rose clasped her friend’s hand and smiled. “Every day and twice on Sunday.” 

“Thank you,” Rey said, breathing out a sigh of mild relief. 

“I would never pass up the chance to spend more time with my bestie,” Rose began before grinning mischievously at her, “and stare at sexy Senator Solo.” 

Rey laughed and put her forehead in her hands. “You would.” 

“Oh come on, you were five feet away from the guy. Tell me you don’t think he’s hot, despite the fact that he’s allegedly an asshole to everyone.” 

“He wasn’t mean to me,” Rey said plainly, taking a sip of her beer, “and yeah, he can fill out a suit.”

Rose followed her lead and took a sip from her own beer. “I think you meant, he’s built like a fridge with an Adonis body.” 

Rey felt a flush swoop over her face and chest. She didn’t know why Rose’s words were having such an effect on her. But now was not the time to think about such things. There were more pressing matters, such as if she should take the job on Senator Solo’s campaign. Rey lifted her bottle of beer to her lips, mentally preparing to make a list of pros and cons of taking the job. 

“Oh god, Becca, your loaf is going to be so  _ underproved _ !” Rose yelled at the  _ Great British Bake Off _ playing on the TV. Rose’s outburst brought Rey out of her head and back to the present. It was well-timed, though. Rey didn’t have to make a decision until Friday. There was time for angst. There would be time for tossing, turning and second-guessing her decision. She looked back at her wings and beer and made the decision to put all thoughts of Senator Solo out of her head. For now, she would focus on being present with Rose and cringing at the verbal tongue lashing Paul Hollywood would unleash on Becca. 

***

Despite her indecision about the consulting position, Rey decided that an interview or two couldn’t hurt. That was an easy call. The questions probably would be easy ones to answer, just so they could say they had the viral fourth grade teacher on their show.

Two days after her conversation with Rose, Rey agreed to call into 1010 WINS on her lunch hour. The agenda was simple—answer some questions from the show hosts and take some listener questions. When Rey first talked to the station manager and the idea of taking audience questions was first raised, her stomach dropped. What if an irate, basement-dwelling incel from the bowels of Reddit called in and began screaming at Rey? That prospect alone almost made Rey call the whole thing off. 

After a brief conversation with the station manager, she was assured that the calls would be carefully screened. No irate calls would reach Rey while she was being interviewed. The assurances were a little comforting, but Rey was still nervous as hell. She was out of her depth, and she just prayed it didn’t show while she was talking to the hosts. 

The day of her interview arrived and Rey led her students to the cafeteria. The clacking of her heels seemed to get louder as she drew closer to her classroom. Her hands shook as she lifted the receiver of her classroom phone to her ear and dialed the number she was given for the station. The line rang and she tried to take a few steadying breaths. This would all be fine and go smoothly. 

The hosts' questions were just as predictable as Rey thought. 

_ Tell us a little bit about yourself.  _

_ I’m a fourth grade teacher at P.S. 145. Been teaching for three years. When I’m not teaching I lead a rather boring existence of binge watching and brunches.  _

_ What made you become a teacher in the first place?  _

She hesitated for a second. Should she go into detail or just scratch the surface. In quick order, to avoid dragging her fifteen minutes of fame out longer than she should, she decided to just give a surface answer. “I had a lot of teachers who were influential in my life and when I was pondering what to do with the rest of my life in high school, I decided I wanted to become a teacher to make an impact in young kid’s lives and pay it forward.” 

“Did that play into your decision to go to the town hall and raise a little hell like you did?” the host asked with a laugh. 

Rey laughed and it came out more nervous than she originally intended. Just like she hadn’t intended to “raise hell”. “I guess I did raise a little hell, huh? That was never my intention. Just wanted to advocate for my students.” 

The host laughed. “Fair enough. You up for taking some audience questions?” 

“Sure thing! Be nice to me everyone!” Rey was only half joking.

The station made good on their promise to not let any trolls get through to Rey. She answered a question about her teaching philosophy and took a call with more comments of support and thanks. Each moment that passed while she was taking audience calls increased her confidence and put her more at ease. The hour was drawing to a close. 

“Okay, so if you have time for one last call, Ms. Johnson, we have one more caller…” the host's voice trailed off. 

“Sure!” Rey agreed and released a breath. Her muscles relaxed and the last remnants of the once tight grip she didn’t even know she had on the phone released. 

“Hey, caller, what’s your question for Ms. Johnson?” 

“Hi, I’m a parent of a child, not at your school, but at another public school in this city,” the caller began. 

“What’s your name?” The host cut in. 

“Laura. Laura Thompson,” she answered. “I don’t really have a question, but more of a statement. I just wanted to thank you and say we need more teachers like you.” 

Rey paused for a second. “That’s very sweet of you to say, Laura. Thank you.” 

“You’re welcome. I’m a single parent and I can provide for my kid, but I know there’s so many people struggling to feed their kids. My daughter…” the caller's voice began to break. A sniffle was heard on the other end of the line. “I’m sorry, my daughter has asked me to make extra sandwiches a few times because she’s noticed her friends at school don’t have lunch.” 

“God bless you for doing that, Laura,” the host interjected. 

The caller huffed out a breath, trying to keep her composure. “Thank you. I’m not trying to tell you this to pat myself on the back or anything, but I’m just saying...this is going on and no one is saying anything. Then you come along and you’re demanding answers from those in charge. And, well, Miss Johnson, you’re my hero for that.” 

Rey nearly dropped the phone hearing those words. A hero? Rey didn’t much feel like one. It didn’t feel like there was much heroism in getting up and doing one’s job. The satisfaction that Rey got when a student grasped a concept for the first time or when a student fell in love with a subject because of Rey’s guidance, that didn’t feel like heroism either. It just felt like showing up and doing the job she was born to do. 

Standing in front of Senator Solo, asking him to actually give a damn and fulfill his calling as a public servant didn’t feel heroic either. That felt like giving a voice to the voiceless. She’d seen enough injustice in her life to not speak out when it cropped up on her radar. 

“Well, thank you, miss, but I don’t feel much like a hero,” Rey said when words finally came to her. 

“But you are, in my eyes. You’re giving a voice to those who can’t speak for themselves, so thank you.” 

_ A voice for those who can’t speak for themselves.  _

And then it hit her—despite all the reasons she could give herself not to take the consulting job and all the anxieties that would keep her from saying yes—that was the reason she  _ should  _ say yes. 

No sooner had this earth-shattering revelation happened, she realized she needed to put a pin in all this. Rey had to go. Her lunch hour was almost over and she would need to get her students any moment. The radio host thanked the caller and Rey for their time and wrapped up the segment. 

After hanging up the phone, Rey huffed out a breath. She was on the precipice of something bigger than herself. Yes there was the fear of the unknown, fear of failure. But would she regret not taking this opportunity? How long had she sat on the Governance Council feeling powerless to effect real change? How many days had she gone home from work, frustrated with the system at large? 

This would put her in a position to actually be able to affect real change. She could help so many students beyond her crowded classroom. She tugged at the sleeves of her sweater, stood up from her desk and headed toward the cafeteria to pick up her students. Her hands were no longer shaking as she reached for the doorknob of her classroom. 

_ I’m going to take the position _ , she told herself as she opened the door. As she stepped into the hallway, her spine straightened. A weight flew off her shoulders as she strutted down the hallway. A smile tugged at the corners of her mouth, though Rey fought to keep it down, lest she look like a crazy person. Doubt no longer held a place in her mind. The change in atmosphere around her was confirmation enough that she was doing the right thing. 

Secure in this knowledge, she gathered her students from their lunch hour and brought them back to the classroom to continue their learning for the day. After successfully navigating the normally perilous afternoon, Rey dismissed her students. 

When silence reigned in her classroom once more, she pulled out the card Senator Solo had given her and dialed the number. 

“This is Ben,” the answer came on the third ring. 

Rey stammered for a second. He’d given her his personal line? “Uh, hi, this is Miss Johnson from P.S. 145. Calling about the consulting position you and Miss Netal talked to me about?” 

“Oh yes, Miss Johnson, how are you?” 

“Good, I was calling to accept the position.” 

“Oh?” there was a hint of surprise in his voice that Rey tried to dismiss. 

“Yeah, so, um, when would I start?” 

“Oh, um, I’ll have Bazine call you with the details,” Senator Solo said quickly, the sound of papers shuffling coming through the phone. 

“Sounds good. Thank you for this opportunity.” 

“Don’t mention it,” he said, “and Miss Johnson? I’m very...happy to have you joining the team.” 

“Thank you, sir.” 

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> [My Twitter](https://twitter.com/em_is_writing)


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope this update finds you healthy and safe in this crazy world we find ourselves in. Please stay safe and wear a mask. 
> 
> Thanks for your patience with this update. As always, thanks to [commandercrouton](https://archiveofourown.org/users/commandercrouton) for the beta read. 
> 
> Also, please mind the update tags. Thank you!

When Rey first entered the Solo campaign headquarters, she had no idea what to expect. The building was on the corner of a street in downtown Brooklyn, right in the heart of Senator Solo’s constituency. As Rey approached the building, her senses were assaulted—the honking and noise of cars, the rattling of the raised subway line, the scent of smoked meat from the barbeque restaurant—all just part and parcel of the hustle and bustle of New York. The solitary tree on the street just outside of headquarters was beginning to whisper that autumn was here. 

The windows of the office were plastered with the same campaign posters from top to bottom, obstructing the view of any nosey pedestrians. Rey stopped for a half a second to take in the picture they’d chosen—one from a rally six weeks ago—for the campaign poster. 

The words Rose had used to describe him— _ sexy Adonis _ —popped back into her head. Seeing his face again she had to admit, Rose had a point.  _ Get a grip _ , she quickly chastised herself as she rolled her eyes. 

The inside of the building was just as chaotic. Everyone was either hustling from one place to another, engrossed in a phone conversation, or buried in their phone or laptop. A conference room was to Rey’s left. Several college interns (Rey assumed) were currently occupying that space, working away on some project. 

Above it all were metal stairs leading up to an office with frosted glass windows. The Senator’s office, Rey assumed. She had to chuckle. For all the rumors of him being cold and unreachable, this was the first evidence she’d ever seen of him being distant and aloof. 

Rey craned her head above all the noise for a familiar face. Her eyes fell on Bazine, who was in the middle of helping someone with a task on their computer. She waved. Bazine held up a finger toward her. After finishing up, she walked over toward Rey. 

“Welcome, Miss Johnson,” she reached out to shake Rey’s hand. 

Rey returned the gesture. “Please, call me Rey. This is quite the operation you have here.”

Bazine nodded and took a sip from her coffee cup. “We do what we can. Let me show you to your workspace.” 

They headed toward the back corner of the office. It was slightly off the beaten path, but Rey didn’t mind. At least it would be quiet. 

“Ben’s still on a conference call,” Bazine explained as Rey shucked her bag and coat. “Just hang tight, I’ll come get you when he’s done.” 

Rey sat down and waited a few minutes, killing time on her phone. Somehow, she wound up on her Amazon wishlist. Even though it was only the first month of school being back in session, a nasty stomach virus had ripped through her classroom the last two weeks, leaving Rey’s stockpile of hand sanitizer and cleaning wipes severely depleted. She added those items to her wishlist with a silent lament of how long she’d have to wait to get them. Construction paper and crayons were more pressing matters, so those would get purchased when Rey got paid. 

“Doing a little shopping?” Bazine’s voice rang through her thoughts. 

Rey swiveled the chair. “Heh. Yeah, just dreaming about having adequate cleaning products in my classroom.” 

Bazine’s face turned to a grimace. “That bad, huh?” 

“Normally I’d be fine until cold and flu season, but this nasty stomach bug that’s been going around wiped me out and I don’t feel right asking the kid’s parents to donate.” 

“Understandable,” Bazine replied. “Alright, let’s head to the conference room.”

All business, Rey liked that about Bazine. 

“So what exactly am I doing today?” Rey asked as they began heading back toward the front of the office. 

“So, we’ve put together a few bullet points on what we feel should be our education policy. As our educational advisor, we need you to look over them and see where we can make tweaks.” 

“Easy enough,” Rey replied. 

Moments later they were in the conference room, Rey was looking at a packet of papers Bazine had handed her. The door to the conference room opened, letting in the din from the rest of the office. Rey didn’t think twice about who had just entered, but those around her apparently had. 

With the exception of Bazine, everyone’s demeanor was noticeably different. It took a few moments for Rey to pick up on the change in atmosphere, but when she did, she looked up and saw Senator Solo was responsible for it. 

After a few seconds of silence had passed, Senator Solo looked up from his phone. “Are we ready to begin?” 

Everyone quickly scrambled to appear ready and begin the meeting. Rey caught Bazine’s eye. She was standing in a corner, with a smirk etched on her face, shaking her head. Rey couldn’t help but laugh either. She couldn’t see why everyone was so jumpy in his presence. Senator Solo really hadn’t lived up to his reputation. 

The group finally got down to the business at hand. Rey was very pleased with the policies the campaign was setting forward—enforcement of union mandated caps in class sizes, increased money for the schools and increasing the budget for the education system, to name a few. Rey offered a few small suggestions on minor points, which were taken into consideration. An hour later, all in the room felt satisfied with the progress they had made and agreed to adjourn. Bazine threw another packet down on the table in preparation for another meeting. 

It caught Rey’s eye.  _ Economic Policy _ was printed in all capital letters in a boring font on the top. Rey knew she probably wouldn’t understand half of what was written on the paper, but her curiosity got the better of her. She perused the first few bullet points on the page, her suspicions that she wouldn’t understand a single word of any fiscal policies put forth seemingly confirmed, but the third bullet point caught her attention. 

Buried among the financial jargon were words that Rey definitely understood:  _ No increase to minimum wage _ . 

“Senator Solo?” Rey asked before she could stop herself. 

“Yes, Miss Johnson?” He answered, turning from Bazine. 

“You’re...not planning to raise minimum wage?” 

He looked at her for a few seconds, surveying her expression. “Not in my first term, no.” 

“But why not? It doesn’t fit in with the rest of your platform,” Rey argued. 

“I’m sorry, but do you have a degree in economics that we don’t know about?” 

“Excuse me?” Rey challenged, anger rising within her. 

“I’m just saying,” he began, “you’re my educational advisor, maybe stick to advising me on educational matters?” 

Rey quirked an eyebrow. “Are you done?” 

Ben scoffed, like he couldn’t believe she was challenging him on this. He had the audacity to look toward Bazine, like she should throw him a life line. Bazine just laughed quietly as she shrugged her shoulders, shook her head, and walked out of the room. 

“Socially liberal, fiscally conservative,” Rey muttered as she gathered up her bag. 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” the Senator crossed his arms. 

“It means you only give a shit when it benefits you,” Rey said, looking up at him. “I don’t get it, are you  _ actually _ going to help people?  _ Are _ you actually going to look for money to fully fund Healthy Minds or is that just one of those campaign promises that  _ Politico  _ will mention in a footnote that you broke? Because, I have news for you, my students and their parents, or  _ whoever _ , are not just a footnote in some article.They’re living, breathing people who don’t have the luxury of waiting until your next year in office. That is,  _ if _ you get elected.” 

Senator Solo worked his jaw, his anger clearly seething below the surface. Rey stopped herself before she said something she would  _ really _ regret. A thick silence descended between them. Then, it all clicked. “Holy shit…”

A huff came from the senator’s nostrils. “What?” 

“You’re gunning for Palpatine’s endorsement,” Rey said, shaking her head. Senator Solo looked away. Bingo. She was right. “Your social agenda is far too leftist for him, so you need something in your platform that will appeal to his base.” 

He just stared at her with an unreadable expression before saying, “Are  _ you _ done?” 

Rey rolled her eyes and slung her bag over her shoulder. “Yeah. I’m done.”

It was only after she bounded out of the building and was halfway toward her subway stop, the enormity of what she’d done hit her. With the realization of just how badly she’d fucked this up, she pulled out her phone and dialed Rose’s number in hopes of slowing down her breathing. 

“Rose, I think i just got myself fired from the Solo campaign.”

***

The next day, things got worse. Rey was still trying to push her impulsivity and rashness out of her mind when she was calling attendance. She had her head down, looking at her student roster on the computer, looking up periodically to verify her kids were sitting in the right seat. They were seated in alphabetical order—with a few exceptions based on student needs—and Rey was flying right along marking her students as present, until…

“Temiri?” she called, not looking up from her screen. Only silence answered her back. “Temiri?” she repeated. 

Rey sighed. She was going to have to make a phone call later. In the month since school had been back in session, Temiri had already missed twelve days. That was a conversation she was  _ not  _ looking forward to. 

“Temiri got taken away by Social Services ‘cause his foster parents got arrested,” a girl from the front row piped up. 

That outburst elicited some snickers and whispers from the rest of her students. Rey pursed her lips. “Layla, what have I said about making up stories?” 

“I’m not lying!” Layla protested. “I live down the street from Temiri and I saw him get in a car with a lady and he was holding a black trash bag. My momma said that means he’s going to a foster home.”

The detail about the black trash bag was too specific for Layla to be making this up. Temiri’s face flashed across Rey’s mind. Generally he was a happy, smart kid who never caused any trouble. Rey swallowed hard, thinking about how scared he must have been, being ripped from his home. She opened her mouth to push Layla for details—did he cry? Did he know why this was happening to him? 

All those details were just too much for Rey to process at the moment. She closed her mouth and thought better of asking. 

Despite her best efforts, the image of Temiri being led out of his foster home still seeped into her brain. It was as if every little thing reminded her of him. During free reading time, one of her students chose a book from  _ The Boxcar Children  _ series. They were orphans, just like Temiri. At lunch, the cafeteria was serving pizza...Temiri’s favorite lunch. At recess, all she could hear were the whispers of the students, talking about his absence.  _ God, make it end. _

Thankfully, Rey made it to the last bell without having a mental breakdown. As she exited the school for the day, she happened upon Kaydel Connix, the school social worker. She broke into a slight jog to catch up with her. 

“Kaydel!” she called as she approached. 

The social worker flipped her blonde hair around as she turned to meet Rey. “Hey, Rey! What’s up?” 

“Temiri Blagg, I heard he got taken by ACS and his foster parents were arrested last night?” Rey asked, catching her breath from the slight exertion. 

Kaydel drew in a breath and shifted her weight from one leg to the other. “Yeah, unfortunately. I got the notification this morning.” 

“Why wasn’t I told?” 

“Sorry,” Kaydel winced. “I was gonna tell you, but I spent most of the day with a kid whose dad just passed, so that kinda slipped through the cracks.” 

“Lord have mercy,” Rey nearly whispered while shaking her head. 

“Tell me about it,” Kaydel replied, pinching her nose, “no one can catch a fucking break around here.” 

Rey hummed in agreement. “So, what happened?” 

Kaydel raised her eyebrows and began walking toward her subway station. “Oh come on, Rey, you and I have both reported those sorry excuses for foster parents to ACS.” 

“Please,” Rey pressed. 

Kaydel stopped walking. “Okay, you didn’t hear this from me, but my girlfriend’s brother works in the DAs office and word on the street is the foster parents were both dealing. They’re looking at serious jail time.” 

Rey’s face fell. “And Temiri?” 

“Going to another foster home, I guess.” 

“Where?”

“Does it matter?” Kaydel asked quickly. How her words hurt must have been evident on Rey’s face because her tone quickly softened. “Rey, I know you care about your kids, but don’t you think you might be taking this one a little too personally?” 

Rey sighed from the bottom of her chest. Kaydel didn’t know why she was pressing her for answers, there was no reason for her to know. She also didn’t exactly feel like discussing it openly on the steps in front of her job. “Yeah, yeah, you’re right.” 

Kaydel offered her a sympathetic smile and a pat on her shoulder. “Go home, drink some wine, watch some crappy TV and get a good night's sleep.”

Rey had to admit that all sounded like the recipe for a perfect evening. Rose had a date that night, so their apartment was hers for the evening. 

As she sipped her wine, she allowed her emotions to wash over her and swing as wildly as they dared. One minute, she was crying over what was happening to Temiri, the next she was angry at the whole system in general. Whatever her mind was feeling, Rey just let it flow through her. 

Her nerves were raw and she was utterly exhausted. Despite all that, she somehow felt better. Yet, she was tired. So tired, she almost ignored her phone when it vibrated with a text. Her hand flailed in the direction of her phone until she gripped it. 

_ <Ben Solo: Could you please come by the campaign headquarters tomorrow?> _

Knowing it would probably be bad etiquette to reply, “I’d rather stab myself in the eye with a rusty needle than deal with your elitist ass again”, Rey opted for a simple, “Sure”. She was a goner from the campaign for sure. Better to get it over with than drag it out. 

***

She tried not to let tears come out, again, but as soon as a Bazine’s assistant escorted Rey into Senator Solo’s office, they came. Thankfully, it wasn’t an ugly cry, just a  few tears here and there. This was the first time she’d been alone today. Seeing her kids and Temiri’s empty desk forced her to shove it all down and lock it all away. 

A feeling of...stupidity (that was the only word she could use to describe it) had been nagging at her since this whole thing started. This shouldn’t be causing her to burst into tears at the drop of hat. Rey knew all the reasons why she was feeling this way, but they shouldn’t matter. Those reasons were all in the past, dead and buried. It shouldn’t be making her weepy. How embarrassing. 

She needed to get a grip before Senator Solo came in, but it was too late for that. After sniffling and wiping a tear from her eye, a low voice came from behind her. 

“Are you alright, Miss Johnson?” Rey jumped after hearing the senator’s question. “Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” 

Another sniffle. “It’s alright.”

Senator Solo walked from behind her and took a seat behind his desk. “Did one of my staff say something to upset you?” 

“No, no, nothing like that,” Rey replied, shaking her head, her voice small. 

The senator opened a desk drawer, rummaged around for a few seconds and retrieved a box of tissues. Pushing it toward her he said, “So, what is it like?” 

Rey couldn’t speak. What was even happening? Was he  _ actually _ being nice to her before telling her she wasn’t a good fit for his campaign? “Why did you tell me to come here? Did you bring me here just to fire me?”

The senator was taken aback by her statement. “What? Fire you? God, no...I called you here…” he groaned and ran a hand through his black hair, “because I wanted to...apologize...to you.” 

_ Apologize?  _ Well, this was an unforeseen turn of events. But Rey didn’t have time to process any of this kindness. No sooner had she gotten her emotions in check, the floodgates opened again. Tears streamed down her face as she ripped a tissue from the box on Senator Solo’s desk.  _ Just let the earth open up and swallow me whole. _ A few moments later, through her tears, she dared to look up at Senator Solo. Rey expected to be met with a face full of annoyance and impatience. She found none of that. His face was etched with concern, one that was genuine. He was patiently waiting for her to speak, letting her take her time. 

No one had ever let her just be with her emotions in their presence. ‘ _ Suck it up.’  _ and _ ‘Why are you crying?’ _ was normally what she was met with. Being allowed to freely express her emotions? Well, that was enough. It was enough to loosen her tongue and spill things she’d never told a soul before.

“It’s been a nightmare of a week at school. Two students have parents who’ve died. I’m already running low on tissues and disinfecting supplies for my classroom. And it’s not just me, everyone is running low on all supplies... _ already _ ...and it’s not even Halloween.  _ And  _ on top of all that, one of my students got taken away from his foster home last night and I’ve just been in a really bad headspace about it,” she began. The words had tumbled out of her mouth without a second thought. Senator Solo didn’t say anything. He only nodded. Rey didn’t care if that was an invitation to continue speaking or not, she just grabbed a tissue and pressed on. “I see so much of myself in him. I grew up in shitty foster homes and got bounced around constantly. And…” 

Rey stopped herself before she spilled  _ too _ much. She couldn’t burden Senator Solo,  _ her boss _ , like this. She should feel embarrassed by making such an idiot out of herself, but just like last night...she felt... _ better _ . 

“And?” he prodded.

“Nothing,” she sniffled. She offered him a weak smile, “I shouldn’t be unburdening you like this. It’s not what we’re here for.” 

“It’s…,” he paused, considering his next words carefully with an unreadable expression, “you’re right...I brought you here to apologize.” 

“I acc-” 

“Please,” he said, holding up his hand timidly to stop her, “this is hard for me and I have some things that I’d like to say.” 

Rey folded her hands and nodded. “Continue.” 

Senator Solo sighed. “You were right, I am trying to go after the Palpatine endorsement. Not raising the minimum wage was a way of trying to attract that.” 

“But you know that’s damn near impossible given all the  _ history _ Snoke and Palpatine have. Not to mention, your mother is the biggest thorn in Palpatine’s side in the senate.” 

He smirked. “For someone who says she has no use for politicians, you’re pretty damn plugged in.” 

“My roommate is a part-time activist when she’s not teaching computers to the next generation. I can’t be around her and not be well informed.” 

Senator Solo nodded. “Maybe I should hire her too.” 

Rey let out a little chuckle. “Maybe she could re-write your economic policy.” 

“My economic advisor, Armitage Hux, might have something to say about that. Not raising the minimum wage was his idea. He grew up around people like Palaptine. He knows how they think.” 

“Hux, why do I know that name?” Rey wondered out loud. 

“His dad was a big deal in Parliament on your former side of the pond,” Ben said off-hand. 

Rey’s face wrinkled in disgust, “Ugh, Brendol Hux? That Tory wanker? Now it all makes sense.” 

Ben silently laughed as he shook his head. “Now I call bullshit on your roommate being the more informed one, but he’s nothing like his dad. That’s part of the reason he works in America now. I should introduce you sometime.” 

Rey smiled. “Well, I’m bound to run into him sooner or later. That is, if I still have my consulting job here…” 

Ben nodded. “That was never in any danger. I don’t surround myself with yes men. I...like...when people call me on my shit. I want my messaging on this campaign to be consistent. Raising the minimum wage isn’t compassionate, so I’ve asked Armitage to go back to the drawing board and figure out a way we can do that.” 

“Good. That’s good,” Rey looked at her watch. “Listen, I’m sorry to cut this short, but it’s been an absolutely hellish week at school. I have book reports to grade that I’m behind on. Did you need me for anything else today?” 

Senator Solo shook his head. “No, if you need to take off, go home.” Rey gathered her bag and slung it over her shoulder. “And, Miss Johnson, I really am sorry for behaving like an ass.” 

Rey shot a quick smile at him. “Water under the bridge.” 

“And I’m still looking for a way to have Healthy Minds fully funded.” 

That stopped her in her tracks. She met his eyes for a second. The sincerity that was present when Rey had her unfortunate meltdown had returned. She wanted to believe him. God, did she want to trust him on this promise. She couldn’t fully trust him yet. Instead, she just confirmed she heard him with a nod. 

“Have a good night, Miss Johnson,” he said with an expression on his face that Rey couldn’t quite decipher. 

“You too, Senator Solo.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come say hi on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/em_is_writing)!


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you to everyone who's been following this story, I'm really appreciating all the comments and kudos. It's such a joy to write this story and I'm super pumped y'all are connecting with it too. 
> 
> As always, many thanks to [commandercrouton](https://archiveofourown.org/users/commandercrouton/profile) for the beta read.

“Rey! Rose!” Jessika Pava, a fifth grade teacher, ran up to them as they entered the school the following Monday morning. 

“Where’s the fire, Jess?” Rose chuckled as their fellow teacher caught her breath. 

“Rose, you need to thank Paige and send her an extra special Christmas gift this year!” 

“What happened?” Rey asked. 

“Paige stocked us all up with cleaning supplies and tissues, probably enough to last us all year!” 

Jessika looked like she was about to burst into tears. Her classroom was ground zero for the stomach bug that had ripped through the school. One of her students even had to spend a few hours in the emergency room receiving IV fluids because his illness was a particularly nasty case. Jessika had been exhausted from the constant cleaning of her classroom and making sure her students were caught up with the curriculum. 

Rose, however, looked thoroughly confused. “Paige didn’t tell me she was donating anything.” 

Paige Tico was a big name in the video game development world. Rey was often envious of her fabulous social media presence, taking meetings in London and vacationing in Dubai. She didn’t just flaunt her wealth. Paige was also well known for her philanthropy, including generously donating needed school supplies to Rose and her colleagues. 

“Well, if you talk to her, please tell her I said thank you!” 

Rose smiled and nodded as Jessika headed back down the hall and toward her classroom. 

“Remind me to call Paige and thank her tonight,” Rose said as they made the turn into Rey’s classroom.

Sure enough, on her desk were four warehouse store-sized tubs of cleaning wipes with 4 dozen boxes of tissues to go along with it. 

“Holy shit,” Rey said, her eyes widening when she saw all the supplies. She looked around just as quickly as she’d said it, making sure no students had heard her. 

“You got that right,” Rose said, nearly in a whisper. 

Rose wandered over to the ancient computers sitting against the wall, beginning her attempt at fixing them. As Rey drew closer to her desk, she saw markers, coloring pencils and crayons sitting next to the cleaning supplies. A note was attached to a box of crayons and Rey opened it. 

_ For better days ahead. - B _

It took her a second, but Rey quickly dismissed her first instinct as to who could have made this generous donation. After all, they barely know each other. Senator Solo is her employer. However,  _ better days ahead _ ...well, she’d only used that phrase around one person lately. 

Rey was completely perplexed as to why the Senator would be so charitable. In fact, she was so lost in her thoughts that she didn't hear Rose ask a question. 

“Earth to Rey?”

Rey shook her head and walked over to the bank of computers. “Sorry, what did you ask?” 

Rose pointed to an error message on the screen. “This what it was doing for you?” 

Rey studied the message for a second, “Yep, that’s it.” 

Rose sighed, “Okay, time to put in your request for a new computer.” 

Rey winced, “That bad?”

“It’s one of those situations where the part costs more than getting a new computer.” 

“Got it,” Rey nodded. 

“What’s that?” Rose nodded toward the note that had been attached to the construction paper. “Is Paige gloating again? Do I need to set aside money to buy her another ridiculously priced handbag for Christmas, again?” 

Rey smiled, “Actually, Paige isn’t our benefactor this time.” 

“Oh?” 

“I think Senator Solo might have donated all this stuff…”

Rey could feel the muscles in her body tensing up. She wasn’t sure why, though. Maybe it was in preparation for anything Rose had to say about Senator Solo’s motives. 

“How would he know what we needed?” 

“I may have let that slip,” Rey hesitated before speaking even further, “when I was crying in his office.” 

Rose gave her a look that said she couldn’t believe the words that had just come out of her friend’s mouth. Her best friend knew how rare of an occurrence crying was for Rey. If Rose had thoughts on the matter, she kept them to herself, a fact for which Rey was grateful. 

Instead, Rose hummed. “Well, that was nice of him.” 

“It really is,” Rey agreed. 

“It’s also probably good publicity for his campaign to be seen donating to a school like this,” Rose said casually. 

Her friend couldn’t have known the battle that was simmering internally, but still her words were like a shock to Rey’s system. She’d nearly forgotten what and who Senator Solo was. A politician. A senator. People like that only do something if it benefits them. Donating to a public school in a low income area was gold as far as good press was concerned. 

A second of doubt crept through and Rey wondered why he didn’t make noise about this, have news cameras accompany him when he made his donation. For another, he’d only left a note with her items, as far as she knew. She suddenly felt foolish for entertaining any other ideas about why he might be doing this. He’s in the middle of a campaign for governor, he needs to be seen in the most positive light possible.

Rey shook her head and pushed that thought out of her mind. There was no way  _ that  _ was possible. It was so far-fetched that—even in her thoughts—she didn’t even want to give it a name. 

“Yeah, you’re probably right about that,” Rey said with a half-hearted smile. 

***

The campaign office was even more electric the next time Rey went to work. They were in the midst of a media blitz. Rey adjusted her leather messenger bag as she made her way toward her desk, in an effort to stay away from all the chaos. 

“Oh, hey, Rey,” Bazine greeted Rey in a harried tone, before she could even see her. Once in view, she motioned for Rey to walk with her. “I need you to look over Ben’s talking points for the debate next week.” 

“Sure thing,” Rey replied, grabbing a packet of papers from her as she attempted to keep pace with Bazine. 

“You can set up shop in the conference room. Ben’s going to be here in a few minutes, so you can go over things with us then.” 

Rey nodded and headed toward the conference room. Before she got very far, one of the interns Rey had recognized from before stopped Bazine. 

An audible groan from Bazine was all she heard next. It made Rey stop and turn to see what the problem was. 

Bazine pinched the bridge of her nose. “This is the last thing I need today. Is  _ anyone  _ free to try to fix the copier?” 

The intern shook her head. “They’re all working on the social media campaign or helping with the debate points.” 

Rey looked toward the copier—sitting near the staircase leading up to the Senator’s office— in question. “I can take a look at it. We have the same model in the teacher’s lounge.” 

Bazine had a look of relief on her face. “Thank you. Just see what you can do.” 

Rey and the intern walked over toward the offending piece of machinery as Bazine rushed off to presumably put out another fire. 

She looked at the error message on the copier before smiling and turning toward the intern. “What’s your name?” 

“Rhiannon,” she answered. 

“Okay, Rhiannon, fortunately it’s an easy fix. You just press this button here and then this one and…,” the machine roared to life and spit out a bunch of papers. Rhiannon released a breath and thanked Rey as she waited for the rest of her papers. 

Rey hung around just to make sure there were no further problems. 

Rhiannon looked up at her after a few seconds of watching paper. “Are you coming out for drinks tonight?” 

Rey raised her eyebrows. “The campaign’s having a happy hour thing?” 

“Yeah, we’ve had a busy week here, so Bazine rented a brewery for us to kind of let loose. If you wanted to invite a friend or partner, that's totally cool too!” 

“Oh, yeah, I’ll see if my best friend-slash-roommate wants in!” Rey said. 

The sound of giggling cut their conversation short. There had been laughter around the office, but this was different. It sounded like a high schooler giggling over the latest gossip about their crush. 

Her teacher mode was activated and she turned around and saw Senator Solo. 

Shirtless. 

Senator Solo was shirtless. 

He’d clearly just come from a run, clad in black athletic shorts. Sweat was still glistening on his body—accentuating every single muscle on his chest,  _ holy shit, so much muscle— _ as he took a sip from his water bottle. A single bead of water ran down his mouth and he wiped it with the back of his hand. If Rey wasn’t stuck on the fact that a perfect specimen of a chest was two feet from her, she would have looked around for hidden cameras.

Instead, she could feel her mouth getting drier by the second as her lips were parted, taking in this unreal sight. Something had to be wrong with her eyesight, right? Real men just didn’t look like this. 

“Miss Johnson, good to see you again,” he nodded toward her, pulling one of his earbuds out, oblivious to the whispering going on behind him. 

“Call me Rey,” she blurted out. 

What was happening? She’d been around shirtless men before who weren’t exactly unfortunately looking. Why was being around this man— _who was technically_ _her boss_ —any different? Did she really want to know the answer to that? 

The Senator smirked, “Rey, okay. How’s the school year going?” 

That snapped her back into reality a bit more. “So far, so good!” She lowered her voice a hair. “I wanted to thank you for your generous donation.” 

He nodded, “I...no problem. Just wanted to help out my future constituents.” 

_ Constituents _ . She’d been right. He was doing this for publicity. That helped tame the fires that had been stoked by his impossibly perfect chest, but why didn’t she like that he had used that word? 

“Benjamin,  _ for fucks sake _ , what have I told you about coming into your office shirtless after your runs?” Bazine’s annoyed voice rang across the building. 

Senator Solo rolled his eyes. “Guess I better go change.” 

Rey smiled and nodded at him. 

He ascended one stair, but turned around just as quickly. “Oh, uh, about our...conversation in the office the other day…” 

Rey winced. “Can we just never talk about that again?” 

Ben drew closer, “Oh, nothing like that. I just have an update on your student.” 

Rey’s eyes widened. “Yes?” 

“I have a friend who works for DCS and I reached out to him to check on him.” 

Rey nodded, urging him to continue. 

“He was placed in a home in Yonkers. They’re good people, been foster parents for at least ten years. They have two kids, and one is around your student’s age.” 

Rey could have cried tears of happiness. “Good. That’s good.” A shaky breath floated out her chest, the tension she’d been unconsciously holding on to, eased slightly. Desperately needing a change in subject before she started crying in front of him again, Rey asked, “You going to the brewery later?”

“You’re going?” 

“I think I might. It’ll be good to get out after the week I’ve had,” Rey groaned. 

“I’ll think about it,” was all he said on the matter before he changed the subject. “Well, I better go put on a shirt and get in the meeting before Bazine yells at me again. I’ll see you in there.” 

“Sounds good, Senator.” 

“If I’m going to call you Rey, at least call me Ben,” he smirked before he began to ascend the stairs. 

Rey nodded and headed toward the conference room, but stole one last glance at the carved muscles on the Senator...Ben.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Come say hi on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/em_is_writing)

**Author's Note:**

> [My Twitter](https://twitter.com/em_is_writing)


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